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Obeid friend denies farm bought for coal

Adam Bennett

An Obeid family associate has told a corruption inquiry cows on a farm he bought were "just walking around and eating grass" when asked what the animals did on the property, despite saying he wanted to run it as a business.

In a farcical appearance at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Friday, Justin Kennedy Lewis admitted he didn't know what type of cattle were on Coggan Creek property, in the coal-rich Bylong Valley, before he bought it in 2008.

He said he didn't remember if the cows were for breeding, milking or agistment.

The Obeid family friend and Sydney businessman also said he had never bought a cow or acquired basic farming equipment, and had visited only three of four times the central NSW farm which is one of a number central to the ICAC investigation.

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Counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson SC, alleged Mr Lewis purchased the farm based on inside information, obtained by former Labor MP Eddie Obeid and his family, that the area would soon be subject to an exploration licence.

ICAC is investigating the 2008 decision of former NSW resources minister Ian Macdonald to open up the Bylong Valley to mining, and whether it favoured the Obeids and people associated with the family.

Mr Lewis agreed to buy Coggan Creek for $3.5 million in November 2008 and immediately signed a deed that would grant the Obeids 30 per cent of any profit made from reselling the farm to Monaro Mining.

Mr Lewis told the inquiry he had been told by one of Eddie Obeid's sons - either Moses, Paul or Gerard - that the property could be sold for four times its value because of coal deposits in the area.

However, he said he considered the possibility of the area being opened up to mining as a "long shot" and denied the coal deposits were central to his decision to buy the property.

At one point an exasperated Commissioner David Ipp asked him, "Wasn't that important to you? You pay $3.5 million and all of sudden you get $14 million".

"That would be a pretty cool thing, but I thought it was a long shot," Mr Lewis replied.

"My main reason for buying the property was just not that."

Mr Watson accused Mr Lewis of "lying your head off" by saying he wanted to run Coggan Creek as a farm.

"Had you spoken to an agronomist (before buying the property)?" Mr Watson asked.

"A what?" a puzzled Mr Lewis replied.

"An agronomist. You don't even know what that is," a frustrated Mr Watson said.

"A person who is specialising in the economics and viability and use of farmlands."

Mr Lewis said he couldn't "recall" whether the farm was used for dairy, agistment or the breeding of cattle before he bought it.

"I really want to suggest to you that you're actually making this up about being interested in running it as a farm," Mr Watson said.

Mr Watson said that when he had been asked during previous testimony what the cows were doing on the farm, Mr Lewis had replied: "Just walking around and eating grass and all that sort of stuff."

"Is that the extent of your farming knowledge? Cows just walk around and eat stuff?" Mr Watson asked.

"I mean, really, in my way of thinking, how hard could that be?" a smiling Mr Lewis replied.

Mr Lewis disputed suggestions the 30 per cent cut of the profits from selling Coggan Creek - which he still owns - was payment to the Obeids for inside information about coal exploration in the Mount Penny area.

"The fee was payable if they went and sold the property for a profit," Mr Lewis said.

"If they made me a whole bunch of money, then I'd be happy to give them an earn."